Shane Van Boening

Shane Van Boening — universally known as **SVB** — has been America's top nine-ball player for the better part of the 2010s and 2020s. Born in South Dakota and legally deaf since childhood, he reads the table through vibration cues and lip-reads his coaches between racks.

SVB has won the US Open Nine-ball Championship six times (a record), and added a WPA World Nine-ball Championship in 2022, plus a US Open Ten-ball Championship and the China Open. He has been BCA Player of the Year multiple times.

His trademark is one of the most powerful breaks in the game — a measured cut break that produces a ball in the side pocket with high consistency. He is widely cited as the active player most likely to enter the Hall of Fame on first-ballot eligibility.